


It's All About the Chase

by quiet__tiger



Category: Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Drama, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 13:22:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10877649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiet__tiger/pseuds/quiet__tiger
Summary: Nightwing has been chasing after a perp for hours... Why isn't anything working?





	It's All About the Chase

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "At Large."
> 
> Originally posted to Livejournal May. 4th, 2013.

Nightwing whipped another wingerang towards the perp, who dodged it yet _again_. This black-clad creep had been evading him for hours, leading Nightwing on a cat-and-mouse chase through Bludhaven. He was being played with, and he didn’t like it.

But he couldn’t let the mugger _go_ , either.

The old woman from whom he’d stolen had for some reason been dressed to the nines, beautiful dress and fine jewels draped around her. She was either new to Bludhaven, wasn’t afraid, or believed Nightwing was doing a good job of cleaning up the streets.

He hated to disappoint, but really? Walking through a bad neighborhood alone at night dressed in more bling than an actress on the red carpet? Maybe she thought she _was_ on the red carpet. Nightwing hadn’t spent more time with her than to see the theft happen and then chase after the crook.

Swinging from another parapet, Nightwing scanned the road beneath him. Cars, some passersby, a cat trotting through the shadows, but no mugger. The guy was big, too, broad shouldered and narrow-waisted, black leather jacket flapping as he ran. As he darted. As he kept one step ahead of Nightwing and all of his projectiles.

As he shot another line at the top of his arc, Nightwing twisted and caught a glimpse of the perp again, peeking from around the corner of a building. In addition to the jacket he wore a black ski mask, and never before had Nightwing found that irritating. But never before had he had such trouble apprehending someone. Especially someone who sort of seemed to _want_ to get caught; he could have disappeared long ago if he wanted to. But Nightwing couldn’t let the guy stay loose in the city, wreaking all kinds of havoc.

The chase continued for a while, Nightwing thinking he was getting somewhere, but the mugger always slipping away. Finally tired of the chase—if no less annoyed—Nightwing stopped following. He needed to think, and found a nice rooftop on which to do it, the city spread out before him as if providing him with a canvas on which to connect the dots.

He wasn’t being led _to_ any sort of destination. They’d have gotten there already. There also didn’t seem to be any sort of pattern to the movements. It was almost like he wasn’t being led at all, but more like he was being _kept_ …

“Shit.” Nigthwing gracefully rolled to his feet and launched a line at the next building. He needed to get back to his cave. He needed intel, he needed resources, he needed ideas; what was happening that was so important he was being played with, being toyed with, distracted?

Nightwing was three blocks from his apartment-slash-cave when the mugger darted out into the street from an alley. Grunting, Nightwing dropped from his line, landed in a roll and popped up to run after the perp. …Who stood in front of him, calmly watching him with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Wondered if you were going to catch on, Rob.”

Huh? “What did you call me?” All of Nightwing’s muscles tensed as he prepared to feign ignorance and fight.

“Robbie. Relax.” And the mugger peeled up his mask to reveal…

“Wally?”

Smirking, his friend answered, “None other.”

Well, that certainly explained how the “perp” was able to keep ahead of him, and seemed to dodge all of his projectiles. “What the hell is going on?”

“I just had to keep you away from your apartment.”

“And the little old lady you stole from?”

“J’onn. He was looking for a new character to try out, and why not now?”

“ _Why_ now? What the heck is going on?”

“Follow me back to your apartment.”

Considering he was going there anyway, Nightwing followed Wally, wondering what his friend was up to. Once inside… “Surprise!” Various members of his teams and their friends crowded into his apartment, some in costume and some in street clothes. Tim stood by his iPod dock, apparently trying to get it to work better, Roy was near the keg, Kory and Jade—who clashed when standing close to each other—stood over a table of snacks, and J’onn in his normal form stood with Bruce. Dick hadn’t been aware his apartment held so many people, as everyone came up to him to say hello.

“What is all this?” he finally asked, while wiping a lipstick smudge off his cheek.

Tim answered, Zesti in his hand as he gestured. “We all missed your birthday last month, so we wanted to surprise you. And we had to do it here, because any of the team headquarters didn’t seem right, and the Manor, well…”

“Alfred has enough to do already, I know.” He could see him now, trying not to look as if he were fidgeting as the snack table got into more and more disarray as the night progressed. “You really didn’t have to go to so much trouble, you know. Who’s watching all your cities?”

Roy smirked, as if he knew Dick would ask and argue. “Second shift begins in an hour. So some of us will be swapped out for whoever’s out there covering.” That would likely explain why Clark and Kyle and others weren’t around.

“Well, you didn’t have to. But I’m flattered.”

Wally clapped him on the back. “Don’t mention it. We all just wanted to say happy birthday and thank you.”

“Well, thanks. And you’re welcome. But don’t ever lead me in a chase around Bludhaven like that again. Someone could have really needed my help!”

“Cass is on it. Don’t worry.”

Dick didn’t sigh, but he wanted to. All of this trouble, just to throw him a party. It was crazy, but it was sweet, too. He was certainly glad the night had gone this way, rather than him still out there chasing a phantomlike villain. Or worse yet, one that could read his mind. Or like that one guy Bruce faced years ago who could wind back time…

Shaking his head, he grabbed a Zesti from the cooler. Strange night or not, he was going to enjoy his party.


End file.
